Gold Flat As Equities Recovery Offsets Geopolitical Worries

Gold prices rose slightly yesterday despite better risk appetite in the marketplace to start the trading week. U.S. stock indexes ended the day higher, buoyed by some strong corporate-profit reports. In economic news, the Commerce Department reported that retail sales jumped 0.6% last month. A separate report from the New York Federal Reserve Bank showed that manufacturing activity in the region fell to 15.8 from 22.5 a month earlier.

XAU/USD is trading above the Ichimoku clouds on both the daily and 4-hourly charts, and that gives the bulls an advantage. If prices get back above the 1348/7 zone, it is likely that the market will proceed to 1353/1. Penetrating this barrier would suggest an extension to the strategic resistance in the 1359/8 area.

To the downside, the initial support sits in 1343-1341.60, occupied by the hourly Ichimoku cloud. A break below 1341.60 implies that the market will be aiming for 1340 next. If this support is broken, look for further downside with 1338 and 1336/4 as targets. The daily Kijun-Sen (twenty six-period moving average, green line) also resides in this area so the bears have to produce a daily close below there to take the reins and march towards the daily cloud.